IGN AU: How much access did these animation studios have to Bungie's source material? How closely did these studios work with Bungie in terms of new designs? Were they given free rein?

Frank O'Connor: We gave them pretty much unlimited, unfettered access. They had access to our story bible, to our art department, anecdotes and legends – we gave them everything they needed. Depending on the studio and depending on the piece, they required a lot more or a lot less access. Often they'd want notes for the stories and we'd drive them or supply the narratives. But we also made sure were weren't saying 'here—make this, here's the script.' Some of the studios' works, like the CG piece, were original visions entirely.

IGN AU: Was there much of a knowledge trade? Has the various styles of animation had any influence on your art direction internally?

Frank O'Connor: There was definitely a lot of stuff added to our universe from this process – that's why we have to work carefully with them. For example the 'Exo' prototype is canonical and the prototype in 'Bones' is mentioned elsewhere in the universe already in the short story anthologies we have with Tor. We're very careful to make sure that everything is correct, but we also make sure they have a purpose that goes beyond another disposable product for the franchise. Everything you see in the anime, or the short story collection or whatever, has a purpose.

IGN AU: So what's the next step for the franchise, beyond Halo Legends and Halo: Reach?

Frank O'Connor: We have about six years of planning done already – and each of the things we put in there... well, if you see a mystery in the anime, there's a reason why it's in there and there will be a payoff for it. So if you see something and think, 'that's weird', there's a purpose.

That's a really nice luxury that we have - and we've watched other franchises get stuck in a place where they have to make it up as they go along for all sorts of reasons. We're lucky; we have a plan and we can simply execute on it.

The partnership with Marvel was something of a testbed for Halo Legends.

IGN AU: So you're looking six years ahead?

Frank O'Connor: Yep.

IGN AU: That's pretty crazy. But it begs the question: with the DVD out and the film still optioned, is 343 going to push to have the film produced once again? What's the latest? Seems like, ever since Peter Jackson and Neill Blomkamp moved on from it, things have gone very quiet.

Frank O'Connor: The last iteration of the film project, well, it was kind of out of our hands. It had to do with the film studios and how they were handling it. But we're Microsoft – and we have the luxury of being able to literally afford to sit back and wait for the right partners and the right time. It would've been great to have created a film with Jackson and Blomkamp – and I think Blomkamp demonstrated that pretty effectively in District 9. But the timing wasn't right and the studios couldn't come to the right agreement that we needed so we can just sit back and wait for the correct partner.

The good news is, I certainly learned a lot from that process and I think we as a studio have as well – and when it does happen, we'll have all of our materials ready and we'll have all of the 'problem spaces' explored already. We were very far from naive when we walked into it, but I think we learned a lot.

IGN AU: What were something of the things you learned coming out of the breakdown of the film undertaking? Is the official line that the Halo film is 'on hiatus'?

Frank O'Connor: It sounds like PR, but it literally is 'on hiatus'. We're just waiting for the timing to be right. Really, we learned about how intra-office politics work and what their interests and focuses and concerns are, compared to ours. Ours are mostly about creative integrity and making sure we're true to the universe. We've always been flexible enough to know that when you make a movie, you have to work with people and make compromises so that it's a movie, not a game. They're very different mediums. So those are the learnings that we've had over the years. ...And I can't claim that any of it surprised us, but it's nice to have a map of the territory.

We tend to think the Halo film will resurface within the next couple of years - in line with a new product announcement, we'd wager. 'Timing' is key.

IGN AU: So would you say it's inevitable, within your six year plan, we're going to see a Halo film one way or the other?

Frank O'Connor: Umm, I wouldn't put a time limit on it like that, but yeah – I would assume that it's 'an attractive motion picture property'. You know.

IGN AU: That's delicately handled. [laughs]

Frank O'Connor: Well, you know, just for scale, I just found out that the director of '2012', Roland Emmerich, is looking to pick up Isaac Asimov's 'Foundation' series...

IGN AU: I know – I cried a little bit.

Frank O'Connor: And 'Foundation' is an amazing, amazing series of novels – but it's not a giant Hollywood blockbuster action piece. So basically, what we're learning from that is the appetite for big sci-fi is there and people are looking around for interesting franchises.